FATHER’S DAY, THEN AND NOW!

According to https://www.history.com/fathers-day, the first U. S. Father’s Day was celebrated on June 19, 1910 in the state of Washington. However, it was not until 1972- 58 years after President Woodrow Wilson made Mother’s Day official- that the day honoring fathers became a nationwide holiday. According to Wikipedia President Richard Nixon signed Father’s Day into law in April of 1972 after President Lyndon B. Johnson had issued a presidential proclamation in 1966 that Father’s Day should be celebrated throughout the United States yearly, on the 3rd Sunday of June.

For me, early memories of Father’s Day included driving out to Chicago from our suburban home and celebrating with my grandfathers’ at their homes.

In my earliest memories of my maternal Grandpa, Sterling, he was near blind but that didn’t stop him from enjoying family time thoroughly. I recall a hearty laugh and big strong, loving hugs. He moved slowly, but purposefully. The story that best describes this man includes an adventurous re-roofing project at his house on Lockwood in Chicago.

Three of my uncles, with my dad, were going to do a quick re-roof of grandpa’s 3 story Chicago residence. My job, which proved to be difficult, was to keep grandpa off the roof because, even though he had promised not to, everyone knew that he’d try to go up there and help- disregarding his near complete loss of vision.

The roof access, as far as I knew, was off of a second-floor porch/balcony. I was not aware of a more difficult access point through a window. Grandpa was!

Long story short, grandpa eluded me, and I didn’t even know it until I heard the alarm in the voices of my dad and uncles, the roofing crew, as blind-ole- grandpa was walking about a foot from the edge of the roof approaching them with refreshments.

Father’s Day at The Sterling’s meant home-made bread, biscuits, mashed potatoes and a large roast beef or ham dinner made by my mom and grandmother and any of the other aunts who were there for the day. I’m sure there were vegetables too, but they were never of much interest to me.

Grandpa Steik was, in many ways, the opposite of Grandpa Sterling other than the fact that they were both great (very good) grandpas. Sterling worked with his hands. Steik worked with numbers and was not handy at all. Grandma Steik died before I was born so visits to Grandpa Steik on Father’s Day meant watching the Cubs, or Sox game while my mom prepared dinner.

Grandpa Steik’s visits were always highlighted by his gift of a chocolate candy bar to each child- he knew the way to a child’s heart, at least to my heart!

My dad was as close to perfect as can be.

I was blessed!

Dad practiced baseball with me on Saturday mornings and then took me to breakfast at his favorite spot. He came to many of my sporting events, baseball, football (in 8th grade), cross-country, wrestling and boxing, later softball and flag football. I could talk sports, music, politics and religion with him (I’m not sure that any similar creature exists).

My dad and I tried to get a weekly column in the local newspaper, but they turned us down. It was a let down because they had published many of our individual efforts and we looked forward to the opportunity to brainstorm with each other for a weekly project.

When my dad was well into his final fight against cancer I wrote this poem for him:

All of those fathers have passed and as difficult as those losses were, life goes on.

I wish I could compare to any of those exceptional men. I truly doubt that I do, that’s not modesty, it’s tough competition.

But, as far as my Father’s Day this year, it was wonderful! My kids gave me a bunch of great presents and then, some of them, took me to a local carnival where we went on several rides and then watched and, more importantly, listened to a Beatles tribute band, American English. They put on a great show with appropriate costume changes.

I thought the presents they had given me were plenty, but when I tried to pay at the carnival, they did not me allow to.

I am still giddy from this great Father’s Day experience!

There are many additional father figures who have helped to mold me in different ways. I have three brothers, all of them are good fathers. I have a wonderful father-in-law who, thank God, is still with us. I have brothers-in-law and many cousins, uncles and friends who do that difficult job wonderfully.

I could go into enough detail to fill a book on this subject, but I hope that the points I have covered are clear. I was blessed to have these wonderful men, particularly my father, in my life. Being a father is a difficult, important and rewarding job that many men do well.

I was well rewarded this Father’s Day but, believe me, with the wonderful kids and grandkids I have, I won’t have to wait until next year to get more rewards.

Fatherhood, it’s the hardest job you’ll ever love!

Thank you for reading, please leave your comments on fatherhood, your fathers, or the article. I look forward to reading them. If a comment section is not shown please highlight/tap on the title and a comment section should become available at the end of the article. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Phil